The principle take-away from Freud is that the uncanny in literature derives from ambiguity between reality and surreality. In Algernon Blackwood's The Willows, for example, the protagonist beholds what appears to be a corpse floating down a river. On a second glance, however, it appears that this is not a corpse--only a log. But neither the protagonist nor the reader ever knows for sure, and the occurrence foreshadows the horror to follow. Similarly in The Turn of the Screw, Henry James makes both the reality of the ghosts and the innocence of the children grounds of uncertainty. Is the governess mad, or are there real demons haunting the manor-grounds? Are the children as innocent as they seem, showing only ordinary childish "naughtiness," or do their little misbehaviors and secrets betray an evil and supernatural influence?
However, ambiguity alone does not ensure horror. After all, mystery writers must also make their readers ask and pursue questions according to subtle literary evidence. This is where Freud introduces the supernatural. Specifically, magic suggests the uncanny because it confronts reason. In an infantile world, desire and thought impose omnipotent will on the world. Only as we mature do we impose laws and orderliness on plane extrinsic from the self. When we behold magic, when it appears that some item in our experience might betray nature, that kind of ambiguity suggests the uncanny.
In addition to the supernatural, however, I would add evil or the libidinal. That is, the perceived ambiguity between nature and super-nature must in some way threaten the reader. We must worry not only that there might be ghosts on the manor grounds--we must fear that the ghost haunts. It is not enough that the log streaming down the river is a body--it must be a corpse. From a Freudian perspective, this threat is all the more powerful if it reveals some secret craven appetite we ourselves nuture in the privacy of the id.
So, the formula for the Gothic aesthetic according to Freud might be written thus:
"I will say at once that both courses lead to the same result: the “uncanny” is that class of the terrifying which leads back to something long known to us, once very familiar." -p. 1-2.
"According to [Schelling], everything is uncanny that ought to have remained hidden and secret, and yet comes to light." - Freud, 4.
"Jentsch says: 'In telling a story, one of the most successful devices for easily creating uncanny effects is to leave the reader in uncertainty whether a particular figure in the story is a human being...and to do it in such a way that his attention is not directly focused upon this uncertainty.'" - Freud, 4.
"We know from psychoanalytic experience, however, that this fear of damaging or losing one’s eyes is a terrible fear of childhood. ...A study of dreams, phantasies and myths has taught us that a morbid anxiety connected with the eyes and with going blind is often enough a substitute for the dread of castration." - p. 7 (cf. Oedipus, etc)
"Now, dolls happen to be rather closely connected with infantile life. We remember that in their early games children do not distinguish at all sharply between living and lifeless objects, and that they are especially fond of treating their dolls like live people." - p. 9, (cf. the omnipotence of thought)
The theme of the “double” - p. 9-12. cf. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, "Enemies," etc.
However, ambiguity alone does not ensure horror. After all, mystery writers must also make their readers ask and pursue questions according to subtle literary evidence. This is where Freud introduces the supernatural. Specifically, magic suggests the uncanny because it confronts reason. In an infantile world, desire and thought impose omnipotent will on the world. Only as we mature do we impose laws and orderliness on plane extrinsic from the self. When we behold magic, when it appears that some item in our experience might betray nature, that kind of ambiguity suggests the uncanny.
In addition to the supernatural, however, I would add evil or the libidinal. That is, the perceived ambiguity between nature and super-nature must in some way threaten the reader. We must worry not only that there might be ghosts on the manor grounds--we must fear that the ghost haunts. It is not enough that the log streaming down the river is a body--it must be a corpse. From a Freudian perspective, this threat is all the more powerful if it reveals some secret craven appetite we ourselves nuture in the privacy of the id.
So, the formula for the Gothic aesthetic according to Freud might be written thus:
Ambiguity + surreality + threatening libidinal appetites.
"I will say at once that both courses lead to the same result: the “uncanny” is that class of the terrifying which leads back to something long known to us, once very familiar." -p. 1-2.
"According to [Schelling], everything is uncanny that ought to have remained hidden and secret, and yet comes to light." - Freud, 4.
"Jentsch says: 'In telling a story, one of the most successful devices for easily creating uncanny effects is to leave the reader in uncertainty whether a particular figure in the story is a human being...and to do it in such a way that his attention is not directly focused upon this uncertainty.'" - Freud, 4.
"We know from psychoanalytic experience, however, that this fear of damaging or losing one’s eyes is a terrible fear of childhood. ...A study of dreams, phantasies and myths has taught us that a morbid anxiety connected with the eyes and with going blind is often enough a substitute for the dread of castration." - p. 7 (cf. Oedipus, etc)
"Now, dolls happen to be rather closely connected with infantile life. We remember that in their early games children do not distinguish at all sharply between living and lifeless objects, and that they are especially fond of treating their dolls like live people." - p. 9, (cf. the omnipotence of thought)
The theme of the “double” - p. 9-12. cf. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, "Enemies," etc.